Development of brick from mud flood: mechanical properties and morphology changes

After the flood event, there is lots of debris and muds were found along the affected area. Soil treatment is an alternative method used to utilize the mud flood to increase the strength of the material to produce bricks. In this study, a series of laboratory test was conducted to determine the optimum mixture stabilizer of nontraditional additives called “SH-85” to stabilize mud flood soil to form a brick. The mud flood soil sample was taken from Kuala Krai, Kelantan after the flood event. Basic test such as Atterberg limit test, specific gravity test, sieve and hydrometer were carried out to determine the physical properties of mud flood soils thus used for soil classification. Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) test was conducted for treated and untreated of mud flood soils which were used to assess the engineering properties of the stabilized soil. The proportions of stabilizer added were 3, 5, and 10% from the soil weight and tested at 0, 3 and 7 days curing periods. Based on the results, it was found that the used of stabilizer could increase the soil strength. To achieve minimum values of crushing strength for bricks 2750 kPa, additional 2% of sodium nitrate was added to soil with 10% of SH-85 and cured for 3 days at 105 °C temperature. Microstructure analyses were conducted using Energy-Dispersive XRay spectrometry (EDX) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) tests. FESEM results show that the void of untreated soil was filled by a new cementations product and show the presence of white colour lumps in treated soil. This finding indicates that the mixture of SH-85 stabilizer and sodium nitrate is suitable for the mud flood soil to become bricks for building construction